10th August 2017
by harryfiddler
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It’s Baroque week at Dartington. As I type, there are three guys in jeans and t-shirts playing natural trumpets and horns on the ramparts. As you do. Elsewhere, recorder music billows out of every other room, with the spiky twang … Continue reading
6th August 2017
by harryfiddler
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All set up, ready to play in L’Eglise San Leger, a Romanesque Church from the 11th century. This will be my last concert in France as tomorrow I head north to Dartington. It’s been a mighty week. Old friends and … Continue reading
3rd August 2017
by harryfiddler
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After twelve hours of rehearsal, two concert programs learnt, one performance done and many glasses of Provencal rose drunk, I’m beginning to acclimatise to the heat and pace. It helps when you spend the middle of the day within the … Continue reading
20th July 2017
by harryfiddler
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The troops were gathered, the weapons tuned. The general stood, ready for action, in front of the battalions. The flag went up then BOOM. Battle commenced. Mahler’s third Symphony is an epic battle between life and death, hope and despair, … Continue reading
16th July 2017
by harryfiddler
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The relative speed of light and sound has always fascinated me. The way that, on the cricket pitch, you see the batsman swing and follow through a good second before you hear the tock of willow on leather. Or, in the concert … Continue reading
2nd July 2017
by harryfiddler
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The Australian Haydn Ensemble have pulled off quite a coup in securing legendary forte pianist Melvyn Tan as soloist for their latest gig. Back in the 80s — the 1980s — Tan was at the frontier of the new territories … Continue reading
30th June 2017
by harryfiddler
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Musica Viva Australia has just launched Sessions, a series of brief, one-off gigs in unusual places. The first featured violone and bass player Kirsty McCahon and percussionist Kerryn Joyce, performing in the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens of NSW. Plants … Continue reading
17th June 2017
by harryfiddler
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White gloved minions, security pass lanyards, the fey gallery director… Pinchgut Opera’s latest offering is a delicious comedy of manners set within the tight-knit, high brow world of Fine Art. Three one-act operas — two by Rameau, with a comic … Continue reading
11th June 2017
by harryfiddler
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J S Bach is a poster boy for the power of limitations. A devout Protestant, his music was restrained within strict rules of counterpoint and an even stricter schedule of liturgical deadlines. But in spite of writing to order, using … Continue reading
9th June 2017
by harryfiddler
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Music Remembers Me by Kirsty Beilharz The Memory of Music by Andrew Ford We’ve all experienced time travel. It’s called memory. Not the handy, short term stuff you need to function in every day life, as you hunt for your glasses or … Continue reading